Automatic butter pat former and dispenser



Sept. 27, 1955 E. FROMWILLER AUTOMATIC BUTTER PAT FORMER AND DISPENSERFiled Feb. 2, 1951 Sept. 27, 1955 E. FROMWILLER AUT OMATIC BUTTER PATFORMER AND DISPENSER Filed Feb. 2, 1951 6 Sheets-Sheet 2 Ira/crLF01:-Edcvcud Sept. 27, 1955 E. FROMWILLER AUTOMATIC BUTTER PAT FORMER ANDDISPENSER 6 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Feb 2 1951 Sept. 27, 1955 E. FROMWILLERAUTOMATIC BUTTER PAT FORMER AND DISPENSER 6 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed Feb. 21951 I enfor- EclujardE'o-mwfller b liisflao'l l S Sept. 27, 1955 E.FROMWILLER AUTOMATIC BUTTER PAT FORMER AND DISPENSER 6 Sheets-Sheet 5Filed Feb. 2, 1951 Sept. 27, 1955 E. FROMWILLER AUTOMATIC BUTTER PATFORMER AND DISPENSER Filed Feb. 2, 1951 6 Sheets-Sheet 6 Ch O UnitedStates Fatentb AUTOMATIC BUTTER PAT FORMER AND DISPENSER EdwardFromwiller, Richmond Hill, N. Y.

Application February 2, 1951, Serial No. 209,071

' 8 Claims. (11. 316) This invention relates to a dispenser for cakes orblocks of material. The invention provides for automatically cutting anddepositing blocks of material onto receptacles which are cut and formedof sheet material simultaneously with the cutting of the depositedmaterial.

The invention is especially adapted to the cutting and dispensing offood products, such as butter and cheese, but it is obvious that it maybe used with equal success and reduction of manual operations in theprocessing and delivery of other materials, suchas building materials,chemicals, plastic masses, etc.

A particular embodiment of the invention is shown in the accompanyingdrawings, in which:

Fig. l is-a plan view with cover removed; Fig. la is an enlarged detailof the butter rack mount- Fig. 2 is a cross-section taken along sectionline 22 of Fig. 1; I Y

. Fig. 3 is an exploded perspective view of a segment of the butterrack;

Fig. 4 is an exploded isometric view of the paper advancing and papercutting and shaping mechanism;

Fig. 5 is a detailed perspective view of the drive mechanism; t

Fig. 6 is an enlarged and butter cutting mechanism;

' Fig. 7 is a longitudinal cross-section taken along the sectionline 7-7of Fig. 6; i

a Fig. 8 is a cross-section taken along the section line 8-8 of Fig. 7;i i v Fig. 9 is a cross-section taken along the section line 99 of Fig.7; and

. Fig. 10 is a detail of one of the butter releases.

The machine comprises a number of mechanisms, the primary ones of whichare an outer casing, a refrigerationunit, a; rotary butter rack, drivingmechanism, butter clamp,'butter release mechanism, butter-cuttingmechanism, a paper supply, paper feeder, paper cutter, tray former, achute, and a switch.

Referring to the drawings, and particularly Figs. .1 and 2, the outsidecasing or housingv 1 of the machine is a generally cylindricalcontainer, preferably of sheet metal, having a generally flat front wallas seen at the bottom of. Fig. .1, provided with an opening 1a and achute 1b terminating outside the front of the machine for the deliveryof cut pats of butter on their paper trays formed by the machine.

The upper portion ofthe housing isprovided with a cylindrical inner wall2 and a further double inner cylindrical wall 2a connectingwith a doublefloor 2b. The entire, unit has a cover .3 which comprises a domedperforated central portion and a toroidal insulated outer rim coveringthe cylindrical channel defined by the walls 2, 2a, and 2b. 'Below thedome and surrounded by the double wall 2a is a refrigerator unit 4equipped with a ventilating fan da. Refrigeration tubing 5 is disposedbetween thedouble walls 2a. (Insulation 6 is packed.

plan view of the paper advancing 2,718,701 Patented Sept. 27, 1955 space6a defined by walls 2, 2a and 2b. A removable In the butter-storingspace 6a, a butter rack 9 comprises upper and lower channeled rings 9aand 9b (see Fig. 3) which hold bars 10 of butter (shown in dotted lines)in vertical position in superimposed slots 10a and 10b. The butter rackis held rigid by upright braces 11, and is rotatably supported on thefloor 2b of the butter space by wheels 12 mounted on the lower ring 9b(see Fig. 2). Below each slot 10b is a rotatable butter release 13,shown in detail in Fig. 10, which comprises a segment-shaped tableportion 13a and a trip 13b. The butter releases are pivoted to the lowerring 9b by pins 14 and are held in normal butter block retainingposition by coil springs 15.

An H-shaped guide member 16 (shown in section in Fig. la) is mounted forfree movement with respect to the butter rack 9 in sliding relation tothe flanges on rings 9a and 9b. Cleat 17 secured to one face of theguide 16 engages ring 9a and the lower face of guide 16 is turned up toengage the flange of ring 9b. Guide 16 is provided with a roller 18journaled in and supported by a plunger rod 19. Spring 20 exertsdownward pressure on plunger 19 and roller 18. Cleat 21 holds the rollerassembly in place with respect to guide 16. The' central section ofguide 16 is vertically removably mounted in a slot between slides 22 and2211 (see Fig. 1a) which are fixed to the inner wall 2a of therefrigerated chamber.

' The lower ring 9b is provided with a stop slot 23 for each butter slot10b. As the butter rack is rotated, it comes to rest at a predeterminedand properly aligned position which is established by thespring-impelled engagement of the lower chord of roller 18 into theappropriate slot 23. The butter rack is thus held stationary until thebutter block in the particular slot has been used up and the rack isagain caused to rotate as described below, whereupon it will again belocked in the next succeeding position as the roller 18 engages thesucceeding slot 23.

Fig. 7, a cross-section of essential parts of the machine,

showsan adjustable and removable butter cutter or slicer together withpaper advancing, cutting and shaping elements. A block 10, for examplethe usual standard-sized quarter pound, of butter is permitted to dropby gravity. into a square slide when butter release 13 is moved awayfrombelow a block of butter in the rack. As shown in Fig. l, a correspondingsquare passage is provided in the floor of the butter-storing space 6ato accommodate successive blocks of butter as they fall into positionfor the slicing operation. A plate 25 surrounds the sliding tube 24 andreceives a female threaded collar .26 held in place by a flat annulus 27removably secured to plate 25.

A male threaded frame member 28 is provided with a square opening in thecenter thereof so that the sliding tube 24 will be impelled upwardly ordownwardly when the threaded collar 26 is turned, in order topredetermine. the thickness of the slice. A sliding frame or actuatingcarriage comprising member 29 moves back and forth in a;

path formed by blocks 30 and 30a (see Fig. 8) also secured to thesliding tube 24 as by brazing. The slide 29: is provided with two studs32 and 32a mounted at the lower end of the sliding tube 24. These studscarry a wire cutter 33 stretched tautly between them. The cutter 33 ismovable back and forth to cut off butter cuts or slabs.

from the lower portion of the block of butter placed into the slidingtube 24. The slide 29 is provided with a rigid 'f spear 34 adapted topierce the butter stick or block and keep it from sliding down so longas the slide 29 is in the advanced position. A movable spear 35 ismounted on an angle shaped arm 36 which pivots on two lugs 37 and 37awhich are mounted on slide 29. A spring 38 surrounds the angle of thearm 36 to exert downward pressure on the spear 35 which is raised upwardinto dotted position (Fig. 7) by lever 39 mounted on a pivot 40 as thesliding frame 29 travels forward. A slot 35a is provided in the tube 24to permit downward movement of spear 35 when inserted into the butter(see Fig. 9).

Pivot 40 is mounted in a lug 41 fixed to the square slid,- ing tube 24and is spring-actuated to move the lever 39 back down into normalposition after it has been raised up when the slide 29 was moved forwardby a pin 42 fixed downwardly with respect to the end of slide 29, theoperation of which is described below. As shown in plan in dotted linesin Fig. 6, the lug 41 is offset to permit the tip of the arm 36 to dropinto the lower position after it has traversed hfi length of the lever39.

The entire adjustable butter slide assembly just described is removableby unkeying two sliding members 43 from studs 44 mounted as describedbelow to the flanges on a pair of sliding frames Keyhole slots 45 areprovided in the surface of sliding members 43 to permit engagement anddisengagement of the assembly. The members 43 are slidably mounted onopposite sides of member 28 by screws 46 which pass through slots 47 inthe members 43.

The main driving mechanism, including a single-revolution clutch, isshown in Fig. 5. Motor 48 is mounted on base plate 8 (Fig. l) andprovided with a reducer 49 which drives the shaft of a wheel 50 providedwith slots 51 extending around its outer perimeter. A crank 52 ismounted freely on the shaft of the wheel 50 by a screw 53. A bracket 54is secured to the crank 52 for supporting a sliding shaft 55 and apivoted yoke 56 having an attached crank 57. An expansion spring 58mounted on the rod 55 normally forces the rod toward wheel 50 and into aslot 51, except when it is repelled and held away in the outer positionby the yoke 56, as described below. Connecting rod 59 links the shaft 55with one arm of a generally U- shaped driving lever 61 which is mountedby a bracket 61a onto a floor 61b supported on base member 8 by uprightstanchions 61c (see Fig. 8). Connecting rod 60 is also linked to drivinglever 61, and drives the rotatable butter rack 9 by linkage shown inFig. 3 and described below.

A starter push button 62 is attached outside exterior housing 1 to astarter rod 63, the opposite end of which rigidly carries an anglemember 64 bent at the top to provide a stop for the crank 57. A limitswitch 65 carrying a roller 66 at the end of a switch lever 66a isscrew-mounted on the angle member 64. The switch is electricallyconnected to the motor so that the motor runs when the roller 66 isadvanced to close switch 65, and stops when roller 66 is retracted (bythe shoulder of crank 52) to open switch 65. Expansion spring 67 expellsthe shaft 63 after the button 62 is released, thereby returning thestarter button to its normal position away from the front panel of themachine as shown in Figs. 2 and 5.

When the starter button 62 is pressed in, angle member 64 moves in thedirection of the straight arrow, causing the switch roller 66 to moveoff the crank 52, thereby starting the motor. At the same time the crank57 is released from the upper angle stop at the top of angle member 64,releasing or unlocking the yoke 56, and permitting the spring-actuatedshaft 55 to slide into the next succeeding slot 51 in the wheel 50 asthe wheel is actuated by the motor. The moving wheel 50 thus linked bythe engaged shaft 55, rotates and drives crank 52, bracket 54, yoke 56,crank 57, connecting rods 59 and 60, and drive lever 61. As soon asbutton 62 is released, the spring 67 moves shaft 63, angle member 64,switch 65, and roller 66 back into their original location. When thewheel 50 has completed a revolution in the direction shown by the arrow,roller 66 on the limit switch lever is pressed by the shoulder of thecrank 52 and forced into the off position, thereby stopping the motor.Crank 57 then re-engages the stop at the top of angle member 64 and theyoke 56 is thereby pivoted away from the wheel 50 carrying with it theshaft 55 which becomes disengaged from the slot 51. The entire unit isthen again at rest.

Figs. 4, 6 and 7 are, respectively, exploded perspective, plan, andsection views of the paper cutting, paper actuating, and plate or pattyforming mechanism. The solid lines in Fig. 7 show the assembly in themiddle of an operating cycle, and the normal or rest position is shownby the dotted lines. As shown in Fig. 7, a roll of paper 68 is fedaround a frame beneath the paper cutter and between slides 69 and a pairof knives 70 and 71 aligned to cut the paper at the proper position. Theend of the paper lies over a female shaping die 72. The paper isactuated forwardly from the roll and into position by a clamping device73 tensioned upwardly by an expansion spring 74a and mounted pivotallyon a cross member 75. Cross member 75 includes a channel piece 74, inwhich drive member 61 rides. A lever 76 releases the clamp when itwedges between the base of the clamping member 73 and the lower edge ofcross member 75, thereby separating them. This releasing action takesplace when the paper cutting assembly is impelled forward by drivemember 61 as described below and as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 7.When the assembly is returned to the position shown in solid lines,clamp 73 is released and the spring 74a presses it upwardly againstcross-member clamp 77, thereby holding the paper strip 68 ready forfurther movement to complete the cycle. A holding finger 78 mounted oncross bar 79a holds the paper in position with the aid of a spring 79. Astud 80 is secured to cross-member 77 for movement in a slot 81extending longitudinally within a fixed horizontal flat plate 82.

A lever 83, provided with an angular slot 84 which houses stud 80 and acurved slot which houses pin 42, is pivotally mounted on plate 82 at83a. When the stud 80 is moved forward to the angle of slot 84 by drivemember 61, lever 83 moves the slide 29 back andforth as pin 42 rides inthe moving curved Slot 85. A male die 86 may be moved downwardly bypivoted die levers 87 and 87a (see Fig. 4), the actuation of which isdescribed below.

The lower knife 71 for cutting the paper is moved upwardly by a pair ofpivoted knife levers 88 and 88a.

A gate lever 89 is pivoted at 89a and mounted on the exterior of a sideplate 90. An extension 89b of the lever 89 extends through slot 890 inside plate 90 to raise or lower a square drop plate or gate 91 hinged at92 (see Fig. 8). The drop plate 91 when in normal position acts as asupport under the paper strip 68, preventing the paper from sagging whenthe butter block is moved down on top of the paper. The die levers 87,87a, the knife levers 88, 88a and the gate lever 89 in Fig. 4 aredriven, respectively, by the four projections 93, 93a and 94, 94aextending from the upper flanges of side plates 95 and 95a which areconnected for simultaneous movement by the cross members 75 and 77., Thelever 76 which controls clamp 73 is pivoted at 96 to cross member 75(Figs. 4 and 7).

As shown in Figs. 8. and 9, the vertical plates 95 and 95a slide backand forth within the plates 90 and 90a. The pair of plates 95, 95amoveback and forth between positions X and Y (shown in Fig. 4). Whenmoved toward X, projections 93 and 93a. move levers 87 and 87a as theypass. Then the springv 97 moves. each lever 87, 87a into normalposition, as shown, without any action on the male die 86, and theprojections 94and- 94a act in the same manner on the similarlyspring-returned levers 88 and 88a. When projection 93 reaches the lever89, the paper support plate or gate is lifted into supporting, orhorizontal, position. Covers 98, 98a are provided to house the paperoperating assembly.

The following is the operating sequence. The butter rack 9 is filledwith standard quarter-pound sticks of butter in each square opening,each stick being held in upper position by butter release 13. Whenfilled to the'desired extent, the butter rack is placed into thecoolingbutter space 6a and permitted to rest on the floor 2b, after theH-shaped guide member 16 is inserted into the slot between the slides22, 22a.

. A roll of paper 68 is mounted on a shaft and the paper threadedthrough as shown in Fig. 7.

The operator presses button 62, causing wheel 50 to rotate as describedabovegthereby engaging and driving (by shaft 55) the connectingrods 59,60 and drive member 61. The first forward movement of lever 61 moves anassembly comprising the two plates 95, 95a and their cross-members 75and 77 and pin 80 and lever 76, causing them to release lever 89permitting the paper supporting plate or gate 91- to dropinto the openposition. At the, same time,.pin.80 moves 'lever 83 which in turn drivespin 42 to move the slide 29 to the left as shown in Figs. 6 and 7, thusdriving wire cutter 33 through the butter block projecting below thebutter slide 24 and slicing off a slab of butter of the desiredthickness. This thickness may be predetermined by rotating the collar 26to vary the height of the tube 24 and hence of the butter knife(supported-by slide 29 which-rides against blocks 30, 30a which areattached to the tube 29) with respect to the paper 68; At the same time,the spear 34 moves into the butter block to prevent it from slippingdown. In the'same movement the projections 94, 94a actuate levers 88,88afcausing them to raise lower knife 71 by a'pair of L-shaped blocks 99keyed :through the wall of plate 90 thereto, thereby cutting the'end ofthe paper strip into an aproximate square. At this stage in the cycle ofoperations, both the butter and the paper have been cut.

The projections 93, 93a next act on levers 87, 87a, depressing opposedpins 100 connected to the male die 86 and also engaging the lowerportion of the L-shaped blocks 99 to lower the cutting knife 71 innormal position. When the male die 86 is depressed, the severed squareof paper is forced into and through the female die 72 and bent up alongall four edges to form a paper plate or patty 110 (Fig. 8) and todischarge the butter slice and the fabricated paper plate, through thegate opening. At this stage, which is half-way through the cycle ofoperation, the assembly is in the position shown by the solid lines inFigs. 6 and 7.

Spring 104 then raises male die 86 to its normal position. The forwardstrokeli been completed with lever 76 pulled out from the clampingmember 73 (Figs. 4 and 7) by lug 101, causing clamp 73 to press againstcrossmember 77 holding the paper strip (Fig. 7).

At the stage of the stroke of drive lever 61 into the position as shownin solid'lines in Fig. 7, the connecting rod 60 is in the position shownin Fig. 3. The purpose of connecting rod 60, with its associated arm102, which is operable reciprocally in a slot 103 within the wall 2a, isto advance the rack 9 from one butter feeding position to the next aftera block 'of butter has been used up in the slicing operation. As shownin Fig. 3, the butter release member 13 is in the position where thestop 13b is advanced into the path of arm 102. The completion of thecycle to return arm 102 to the opposite end of the slot 103, therebyadvances the butter rack when arm 102 travels in driving engagement withstop 13b. Each cycle of the machine includes a single reciprocation ofthe arm 102, but arm 102 does not drive the butter rack 9 unless stop13b happens to be in the path of arm 102. While butter block 10 is beingfed into the slide tube 24, butter release 13 is held in disengagedposition because the side wall of the butter block itself prevents thespring 15 from bringing the butter release 13 into the position shown inFig. 3. Hence, While the butter block is being fed into slide tube 24,the stop 13b on butter release 13 is retracted out of the path of the am102 whenever it reciprocates.

After the rack 9 has been advanced by the stroke of arm 102 against stop13b, and hence the next succeeding butter block is aligned over slidetube 24, the return stroke of arm 102 passes along the sloping side ofstop 13b to retract it, thereby forcing segment 13a out from under thenewly positioned butter blockand permitting knife 33.

'The return stroke of drive member 61 pulls the paper 68 (see Figs. 4and 7) through the separated knives and between the dies to provide thematerialfor a new plate, and the levers 87, 87a and 88, 88a are passedover by the projections 93, 93a, 94, 94a. The levers are springreturnedto their original positions and slide frame 29 is returned. This returncauses slide 29 to raise lever 39,

as a wedge portion 29a catches beneath lever 39. Spear 35 is thus raisedwith pivoted rod 36 which slides along member 39 in an upper horizontalposition (shown in dotted lines in Fig. 7), and at the same timethespear 34 moves out from the butter block and spear 35 enters until rod34 reaches the end of member 39, whenfthe butter stick is again pulleddown by operation of the spring 38 (Fig.6). reached lever 89, therebyraising the gate 91 into normal position. As described above, at the endof the cycle, the mechanism is disengaged from the motor by withdrawalof the shaft 55 and the motor is shut ofi, ready for a repetition of thecycle.

What is claimed is:

l. A dispensing device for delivering slices of butter onto paperplates, which comprises a tube for a butter block, a reciprocatingcarriage carrying a cutting blade, paper feeding means mounted on saidcarriage, paper cutting and shaping means operatively associated withthe carriage, means for predetermining the advance of a block of butteronto paper and into the path of the cutting blade, said reciprocatingcarriage being operable across the path of a block of butter fed fromthe tube, said carriage being linked to said blade and to saidpredetermining means.

2. A dispensing device for delivering slices of butter onto paperplates, which comprises a tube 'for a butter block, a reciprocatingcarriage carrying a cutting blade, a paper supply, paper feeding meansand paper cutting and paper shaping means each operatively associatedwith the carriage, means for predetermining the advance of a block ofbutter onto paper and into the path of the cutting blade, saidreciprocating carriage being operable across the path of a block ofbutter fed from the tube, said carriage being linked to said blade andto said advance predetermining means.

3. The combination of claim 2 in which the means for predetermining theadvance comprises a pair of reciprocating spears extending from oppositesides into the path of the block of butter, and means linked to saidcarriage to control the movement of one of said spears along the axis ofsaid tube.

4. A dispensing device for delivering slices of butter onto paperplates, which comprises a tube for a butter block, a reciprocatingcarriage carrying a cutting blade, a paper supply, paper feeding meansand paper cutting and paper shaping means each operatively associatedwith the carriage, means for predetermining the advance of a block ofbutter onto paper and into the path of the cutting blade, saidreciprocating carriage being operable across the path of a block ofbutter fed from the tube, said carriage being linked to said blade andto said advance predetermining means, and refrigerating means encasingsaid tube.

5. A dispensing device for delivering slices of butter onto paperplates, which comprises a tube for a butter block, a reciprocatingcarriage carrying a cutting blade, paper feeding and paper cutting andpaper shaping means each operatively associated with the carriage, meansfor By now the projections 93, 93a :(Fig 4) have predetermining theadvance of a block of butter onto paper and into the'path'of the cuttingblade, said reciprocating carriage being'operable across the path of ablock of butter fed from'the tube, said carriage being linked to saidblade and to said predetermining means, and a drive wheel linked to saidcarriage.

6 A dispensing device for delivering slices of butter onto paper plates,which'comprises a vertical tube for a butter block, a reciprocatingcarriage carrying a cutting blade, paper feeding and papercutting andpaper shaping means each operatively associated with the carriage, meansfor predetermining the drop of a block of butter onto paper and into thepath of the cutting blade, said reciprocating carriage being operableacross the path of a block of butter fed from the tube, said carriagebeing linked to-said blade and to said predetermining means, and a drivewheel linked to said carriage.

-7. A dispensing device for delivering slices of butter onto paperplates, which comprises a rack of tubes for butter blocks, areciprocating carriage carrying a cutting blade, paper feeding means andpaper cutting and paper shaping means operatively associated with thecarriage, means for predetermining the advance of a block of butter ontopaper and into the path of thecutting blade, said reciproeating carriagebeing operable across the path of a block of butter fed from the rack,said carriage being linked to said blade and to said predeterminingmeans, a drive wheel linked to said carriage and to said rack, each tubehaving in its path a rack trip, a connecting rod linked to said wheeland engaging said rack trip only when said tubecontains a butter block.

8. A dispensing device for delivering slices of material onto shapedplates, which comprises an elongated tube for holding a block ofmaterial, a reciprocating'blade disposed below the tube and movableacross the path of the tube, 'a paper feeding track disposed below saidblade, a paper cutter adjacent said tube and movable parallel to thelength of the tube, a male die surrounding said tube and movableparallel to the length of the tube, a female die below said trackcorrespondingto the male die, an actuating carriage reciprocable alongsaid track, said carriage having a paper clamp and a plurality of linksattached between said carriage and said clamp, blade and die.

References Cited in the file of this patent- UNITED STATES PATENTS.

1,162,611 Jones Nov, 30, 1915' 1,171,439 Hren Feb. 15, 1916 1,970,183Osborn Aug. 14, 1934 2,019,002 Drohmann et a1 Oct. 29, 1935 2,107,036Heineman Feb. 1, 1938 2,321,188 Doering et a1 June 8. 1943 2,471,100Dodge May 24, 1949 2,529,850 Scharsch Nov. 14, 1950 2,673,429 Riebe Mar.30, 1954

